Perforated and other sheet music



I T. McKEE. PERFORATED AND OTHER SHEET MUSIC.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, I909. RENEWED JULY 29, I920- Patented Nov. 22,1921.

N5 m l mfnesses.

ordinar 7 marks of expression sary the turning struction and be unwoundfrom one roller and 59 of expression.

PATENT THOMAS MCIQL'EE, ()F PORTLAND, OREGON.

PERFORATED AND OTHER SHEET MU$ICL Application filed May 20, 1909, SerialNo. 497,156.

10 ten or printed music, adapted for use in automatic piano players, inwhich perforated sheets are used, and having reference to the particularcase of automatic piano players, myobject, generally stated, is toenable the 15 perfor an to have before him the music as ordinarilywritten, with all the marks'of expression, and in case of vocal music,the words as well, so that the performer may render the particular pieceaccording to the written by the composer thereon, and in the case ofvocal music the words may be read and sung, to better advantage; and myobject, apart from this particular case, is to render unnecesot pages orleaves, as in the case of music, as ordinarily written, and to avoid itsbeing broken up into braces, and to these ends my invention consists inthe sheet music having the characteristics of con arrangementhereinafter specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the figure is an elevation of anarrangement embodying my invention, adapted for automatic piano 35players.

' In the embodiment of my invention illust'ated in the drawings, thereare two parallel rollers 10, containing a long sheet 11 of paper orother suitable material, adapted to wound upon the other, so that music12 printed or written thereon in the usual manner upon staves shall passhorizontally in front of the performer, the rollers being arrangedverti- 45 cally so that the travel of the sheet is horizontally. Besidesthe instrumental music in the instance illustrated, there are wordswritten or printed in the usual place between the two staves, and thereare the usual marks Besides the staves upon the sheet, the sheet isprovided with perforations 13, as is usual in automatic piano players,which pass over and cooperate with a tracker bar 14:.

An important advantage of the association of music Written or printed inthe customary Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatcnted fiov, :22, 21.

-11 Renewed July 29, 1920. Serial No. 399,388.

manner with the perforated sheet, is that familiarity with music and theexpression marks, commonly written, all that is necessary to enable theaccurate and perfect rendition of a piece of music, and to one familiarwith this, it can be done more satisfactm'ily than with the expressionmarks used on perforated music, especially vsince in the case of myinvention the cxprc on marks are associated with the ordinary form ofmusical notation; and in the case of vocal music, the words areimmediately before the performer, so that they can be very easily andconveniently read. Should it be desired to render the music by playing'in the ordinary manner upon the keyboard, it is necessary merely tosuspend automatic opthe oration, and by proper motor or otherwiseoperate the sheet-moving apparatus, so that the music alone will becaused to pass before the player, and in this connection it will be seenthat my invention ha. the vcrv important advantage of making itunnecessary to turn any leaves becaus, the music is moved continuouslyand automaticallv before the performer. it will be evident that myinvention may be enil :died in an arrangement in which the perforationsshall be formed in one sheet and the ordinary musical uotatioii writtenor printed on a separate sheet, and my invention extends to the writingor printing of music in the ordinary form of notation in a lone or continuous sheet, so that it may be caused to pass before the performer. itwill be noted that the perforations to secure the automatic op erationof the instrument-are in the sheet wholly to one side of the stavcs onwhich the music in ordinary notation is written or printed. By thushaving independence of the perforations and the printed music, neitheris required to be modified on accou of the presence of the other on thesheet The words of the song are, it is to be note- 1, as is usually thecase, printed in the space between the two staves.

As a means of more accurately indicating the composers idea respectingthe expression of the music, than by means of the ordinary expressionmarks, I place upon the stares lines 15, pursuing a devious or tortuouscourse, indicating loudness, softness, acccler ation, retardation, etc,the lines by their form or course, and by their position accurately ori; :actly pointing out tae places where the expressions sought orintended written or llO are to be given. My expression lines can beeither continuous or dotted or broken, and printed in colors if desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isi 1. A keyboardmusical instrument adapted for operation by perforated sheets, having atracker bar and sheet-engaging rollers, said bar and rollers beingsupported above the keyboard with their longitudinal axes in planes thatextend from front to rear of the instrument and from top to bottomthereof.

2. A musical instrument adapted for operation by perforated sheetshaving a tracker bar and sheet-engaging rollers, said bar and rollersbeing supported with their longitudie nal axes in planes that extendfrom front to rear of the instrument and from top to bottom thereof, thetracker bar being situated substantially midway between the rollers.

3. A musical instrument adapted for operation by perforatedsheets,having a tracker bar and sheet-engaging rollers, said bar and rollersbeing supported with their longitudinal axes in planes that extend fromfront to rear of the instrumentand from top to bottom thereof, incombination With a sheet having perforations, and music thereon intheordinary form of notation comprising a staff or staves and musiccharacters thereon, said staff or staves running longitudinally of thesheet in the direction of travel thereof across the tracker bar, saidsheet passing over the tracker bar in a direction from side to side ofthe instrument.

4. A musical instrument adapted for operation by perforated sheets,having a tracker bar and sheet-engaging rollers, said barand rollersbeing supported with their longitudinal axes in planes that extend fromfront to rear of the instrument and from top to bottom thereof, incombination with 'a sheet having perforations, and music thereon in theordinary form of notation, comprising a staff or staves and musiccharacters thereon,

vsaid-staff or staves running longitudinally of the sheet in thedirection of travel thereof across the tracker bar, said sheet passingover the tracker bar in a direction from side to side of the instrument,with the top edge of the sheet in a plane substantially higher than thebottom edge.

5. The combination of a musical instrumerit adapted for operation byperforated sheets, and having upstanding sheet supports between whichthe sheet travel horizontally, and a sheet having lengthwise of it,lines of perforations and music in the ordinary form of notationconsisting of a staff and notes thereon, and corresponding with themusic represented by the perforations, the music in the'ordinary form ofnotation being situated on the sheet vertically substantially wholly toone side of the portion of the sheet having the lines of perforations,the staff thereof extending lengthwise of the sheet.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my han l H.K. SENOUR, A. E. MANN.

